Graham Dorrans open for Albion title push

Graham Dorrans says West Brom are desperate to gain promotion as the Championship’s top dogs

PENALTY expert Graham Dorrans says that the Baggies are desperate to gain promotion as the Championship’s top dogs.

The Scottish international midfielder, 22, converted his fifth penalty of the season to give Albion their first win in four league matches.

Roman Bednar and Jerome Thomas also found the target to blunt the Blades’ push for promotion. Albion are now just two points behind rivals Nottingham Forest in the second automatic promotion spot and six points behind pacesetters Newcastle.

They were set on their way by a dodgy handball decision against Nick Montgomery in the opening 20 minutes.

Dorrans said: “Everyone in our dressing room wants to win the league first and foremost. If we come second, great. If we have to go up through the play-offs then we’ll do that. Our main aim is to go up but we want to win the league."

“Nobody wants to go up through the play-offs, everybody wants to go up in either first or second. But I think that it might be tight all the way through.” The Blades, two-down at the break, halved the deficit early in the second half when Darius Henderson scored from the spot.

But Thomas killed the game two minutes later. United sit sixth, 11 points off second place, but boss Kevin Blackwell refused to rule out a late charge for automatic promotion. He said: “We know that it’s going to be tough because we are that many points behind and aren’t blessed with a big squad. Many people wrote us off this time last year and we took it to the last game of the season.”

Blackwell and Baggies gaffer Roberto Di Matteo admitted they are keen to do some business before the transfer window closes today.